I received a quick reply from Glenburn that the dates we wanted were not available – six months out from our trip. The Glenburn is small, just 8 rooms, but I had not anticipated that they would be full. They gave us alternate dates and I started working around those dates. So the next iteration [...]

Reading over what I’ve written as I prepare for my next entry reminds me how much of the process happens in tiny, almost unnoticed steps. For instance, we have changed where we are staying in Darjeeling as we stumbled across a place in the countryside that looked great. A recommendation from a fellow Fodorite sealed [...]

Finding books is a bit more difficult for Sikkim than for other places we’ve visited. I’ve done a thorough search for books on Sikkim, and have turned up only a few, none of which are available directly from Amazon.

As I mentioned earlier, in my reading I found that there is a separatist group in Darjeeling that is demanding the formation of a separate Gorkha homeland. Periodically, this group calls a bandh to put pressure on the government to resolve the issue. A bandh is a political strike that stops all traffic. While Sikkim [...]

So how does one get from Seattle to Sikkim? Starting from SIkkim, I note there is no airport in Sikkim. The closest airport is Bagdogra. It’s about a 4- 4.5 hour drive by Jeep from Bagdogra to Gangtok. It’s less than 70 miles “as the crow flies” but the winding road through the mountains makes [...]

Input from other travelers is helpful. And for me, the Fodors forum is especially helpful. I’ve been posting there for years, as have many others. And many of us have met each other at get-togethers all over the world. So I have a cadre of fellow travelers whose opinions I respect.

I consider this part of trip planning to be a real luxury. To simply think about the many options available… I bought an atlas many years ago that billed itself as a list of options.

You can’t get there from here or trying to travel independently in a place that doesn’t want you to be independent. It’s been a while since my last post here. I have to admit that I got caught up in planning my next trip to my favorite part of the world, SE Asia. Finally, I [...]

I was caught up in airline strike a on my way to a meeting in Toronto a number of years ago. As soon as there were rumors of a strike, I looked at other options, and settled on flying to Buffalo, New York. The airline wouldn’t change my flight to Buffalo when the strike was [...]

The Hazards of Travel When one hears of the hazards of travel, people think of really awful things – plane crashes, tsunamis, typhoons or hurricanes, earthquakes, or being caught up a violent insurrection. But most hazards of travel are much more mundane: delayed or cancelled flights, lost luggage, a hotel that doesn’t have your reserved [...]